Manufacturing accelerates in U.S. for fifth straight month

Manufacturing growth accelerated in January for a fifth consecutive month on stronger orders and production that signal America’s factories are rebounding.

The Institute for Supply Management’s index rose to 56, the highest since November 2014, from 54.5 the prior month, data from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 55. A reading above 50 signals expansion.

The report showed the gauges of production and orders also climbed to more than two-year highs, underscoring sustained improvement in manufacturing following a soft patch in mid-2016. Stronger demand is helping drive up costs of raw materials, as a measure of prices paid jumped to the highest since May 2011, adding to signs of inflation picking up worldwide.

As political uncertainty bites, almost two-thirds of process manufacturers (62%) say regulatory changes are affecting their business, with more than four-in-five (82%) revealing the threat of import-export shake-ups having significant impact on strategic decision-making.

While robotics, AS/RS systems, AGVs and warehouse management systems have taken industrial facilities into the 21st century, many loading dock operations still use manual labor and 20th century technologies and practices.